Circular  N 


Vnvember  i 


United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 

BUREAU   OF  ENTOMOLOGY, 
L.  O.   HOWARD,  Entomologist  and  Chief  of  Bureau. 


THE  CHINCH   BUG. 

Blissua  U  ucopUrw  Say.  I 

Bj    I'.  M.  \\  i  Ban  n. 
In  Ckorgt  of  Cereal  and  Foragi  Trued  Tnvettigati 

INTRODUCTION. 

I''<'\\  insects,  and  certainly  no  other  Bpecies  of  the  natural  order  to 
which  this  one  belongs,  have  caused  such  enormous  pecuniary  losses 

baa  the  chinch  bug  {Blissus  leucopterus 
Sa\  |  (fig.  l  i.  No  other  inseel  native  to  the 
Western  Hemisphere  has  spread  its  devastat- 
ing hordes  over  a  wider  area  of  country  (see 
map,  fig.  7>  with  more  fatal  effects  to  the 
staple  grains  of  North  America  than  has  this 
one.  But  for  the  extreme  susceptibility  of 
the  very  young  to  destruction  by  drenching 
rains  and  to  the  less,  though  not  insignificant, 
fatal  effect  during  rainy  seasons  of  the  para- 
sitic fungus  Sporotrichum  globuLiferum  Speg., 

On  both  the  adults  and  young,  the  practice  of 

raising  gram  year  after  year  on  the  Bame 

areas,  a>  i-~  followed  in  some  parts  <<(  the      form, much.  vuthor-a 

Li     ■        ■  d                           iii  i  i  illustration.) 

mted  Mates,  would  become  altogether  un- 
profitable.    Some  of  this  insect's  own  habits,  emphasizing  as  they  do 
the  effects  ^i  meteorological  conditions,  are  among  the  most  potent 
influences  that  serve  to  hold  it  within  hounds  by  giving  its  tendency 
to  excessive  increase  a  decidedly  spasmodic  character. 
9917— Cir.  Il:i— 09 1 


DESCRIPTIONS   OF  THE    DIFFERENT   STAGES. 

T/k  egg  (fig.  •'!,  a,  b). — The  average  length  of  the  egg  is  three 
one-hundredths  <>f  an  inch;  in  shape  it  is  elongate-oval,  the  diameter 
being  scarcely  one-fifth  the  length.  The  top  is  squarely  docked  and 
surmounted    with   four  small,    rounded   tubercles   near   the   center. 


Fig.  2.— Chinch  bug:  Adults  of  short-winged  form,  much  enlarged.    (Author's  illustration.) 

When  newly  deposited  the  egg  is  pale  or  whitish  and  translucent,  but 
with  age  it  acquires  an  amber  color,  and  finally  shows  the  red  parts 
of  the  embryo  within,  and  especially  the  eves  toward  the  tubercled 
end.  The  size  increases  somewhat  after  deposition,  and  the  length 
will  sometimes  reach  nearly  four  one-hundredths  of  an  inch. 

Larval  stages  (fig.  3,  c,  d, 
e,  f). — The  newly  hatched 
larva,  or  nymph,  is  pale  yel- 
low, with  simply  an  orange 
stain  on  the  middle  of  the 
three  larger  abdominal 
joints.  The  form  scarcely 
differs  from  that  of  the  ma- 
ture bug,  being  but  slightly 
more  elongate;  but  the 
tarsi  have  only  two  joint-, 
and  the  head  is  relatively 
broader  and  more  rounded, 
while  the  joints  of  the  body 
are  subequal,  the  prothoracic  joint  being  but  slightly  longer  than  any 
of  the  rest.  The  red  color  soon  pervades  the  whole  body,  except 
the  first  two  abdominal  joints,  which  remain  yellowish,  and  the  legs 
and  antenna',  which  remain  pale. 

After  the  fust  molt  the  led  becomes  bright  vermilion,  contrasting 
strongly  with  the  pale  band  across  the  middle  of  the  body,  the  pro- 
thoracic  joint  is  relatively  longer,  and  the  metathoracic  shorter.     The 
[Cir.  J 13] 


FlG.3.-  Chinch  bug:  a.  b,  Eggs;  c,  newly  hatched  larva, 
or  nymph;  </,  its  tarsus;  c.  larva  after  first  molt;  /.  same 
after  second  molt;  g.  last-stage  larva;  the  natural  sizes  in- 
dicated  at  sides;  fi,  enlarged  leg  of  perfect  bug;  j,  tarsus  of 
same,  still  more  enlarged;  t,  proboscis  or  beak,  enlarged. 
(From  Riley.) 


bead  and  prothorax  are  dusk}  and  coriaceous,  and  two  broad  marks 
on  mesothorax,  two  smaller  ones  mi  metathorax,  two  on  the  fourth 
and  fifth  abdominal  sutures,  and  one  at  tip  of  abdomen  are  generally 
visible,  but  Bometimes  obsolete;  ilnv  third  and  fourth  joints  <>f 
intennse  are  dusky,  l>ut   the  legs  are  Btill  pale.     After  the  second 

nmli  the  head  and  thorax  are  quite  dusk}  and  the  abd >n  duller 

red,  bul  the  pale  transverse  band  is  still  distinct;  the  wing-pads 
become  apparent,  the  members  are  more  dusky,  there  is  a  dark-red 
shade  on  the  fourth  mid  fifth  abdominal  joints,  and,  centrally,  a 
distincl  circular  dusk}  spot,  covering  the  lasl  three  joints. 

The  lastsiagt  larva  (fig.  '■>.  cf).  In  the  last-stage  larva,  or  nymph, 
Bometimes  called  the  "pupa,"  all  the  coriaceous  parts  an-  brown- 
black,  tin-  wing-pads  extend  almost  across  the  two  pale  abdominal 
joints,  which  an-  now  more  dingy,  while  the  general  color  of  the 
abdomen  i>  < I i iiltn  gray;  the  body  above  is  slightly  pubescent,  the 
members  are  colored  as  in  the  mature  bug,  the  three-jointed  tarsus 
is  foreshadowed,  ami  the  dark  horny  spots  al  tip  of  abdomen,  both 
above  and  lichiu .  an-  larger. 

Tin  adult.  There  arc  two  forms  <»t"  the  fully  developed  insect,  but 
it  is  not  known  thai  the  young  of  these  two  forms  differ  in  any  respect. 
One  of  these  forms  is  known  as  the  long-winged  form  and  i-  the  only 
form  that  occurs  over  most  of  the  country  between  the  Rocky 
Mountain-  and  the  Allegheny  Mountain-,  and  i-  the  one  originally 
described.     This  form  is  illustrated  in  figure  l. 

The  second  form  is  much  like  the  first,   with  the  exception  of  the 

wings,  which  are  more  or  less  abbreviated,  as  shown  in  figure  '-'. 
This  form  occurs  along  the seacoasts  and  in  the  Bast  extends  inland 
along  the  lower  lakes  to  northern  Illinois.  It  i-  not  abundant, 
however,  wesl  of  a  line  drawn  from  Toledo,  Ohio,  to  Pittsburg,  Pa. 
Throughout  the  territory  in  which  this  short-winged  form  i-  found 
there  are  also  intermingled  with  them  individuals  of  the  long-winged 
form.     Both  of  1 1)  esc  forms  may  he  described  a-  black,  with  numerous 

hairs  al>o  black,  and  with  the  under  wings  while.      The  upper  wings 

are  whitish, with  a  black  spot  on  each.  They  are  about  one-fifth  of 
an  inch  or  less  in  length  and  may  be  easily  recognized  by  the  accom- 
panying illustrations  (figs.  l.  2,  -\.  I. 

-I   \-m\  \i.    BttSTORI  . 

Over  the  territory  covered  by  the  long-winged  form,  as  previously 
given,  the  insect  has  two  generations  each  year.  The  young  of  the 
first  generation  appear  in  May  and  dune,  and  those  of  the  second 
generation  in  August  and  perhaps  as  late  as  September.  The  adult 
insects  (figs.  I,  2)  pa—  the  winter  among  matted  grass,  fallen  leaves, 
and  other  rubbish,  and  come  forth  from  their  hiding  in  spring  and 

[t/ir.  113] 


spread  to  the  grain  field,  where  they  deposit  their  eggs.     After  the 
eggs  are  hatched  the  old  bugs  die,  and  the  young  hatching  from  these 


Fig.  4. — Corn  plant  2  feet  tall  infested  with  chinch  bugs.    (Author's  illustration.) 

eggs  cluster  upon  the  plants  and  begin  at  once  to  live  upon  the  juices. 
Figure  4  illustrates  a  corn  plant  with  the  chinch  bugs  clustering 
upon  ii.     The  egg-laying  season  extends  over  a  considerable  period 

[Clr.  n:;| 


ami  chinch  bugs  of  all  ages,  sizes,  and  colore  are  found  intermingled. 
I'. ,  August  the  majority  "I"  the  firel  generation  have  reached  the  adull 
Btage,  ai  which  time  the  i  ire  deposited  for  the  second  generation, 
which  hatches  and  matures  I i K » •  the  previous  one,  oearlj  all  indi- 
viduals reaching  their  lull  development  l>\  late  fall  or  earl]   winter. 

In  i  he  eastern  pint  ion  of  the  country,  where  the  short-winged  form 
prevails,  it  i-  doubtful  if  there  i^  more  than  a  single  generation  annu- 
ally. This  short-winged  form  differs  \rer3  much  in  it-,  habits  from  the 
long-winged  form,  tin-  firel  passing  the  winter  in  the  meadows,  which 
it  usually  attacks  in  preference  to  grain  crops,  while  with  tin-  Long- 
winged  form,  during  the  period  known  as  the  [ndian  summer,  the 
developed  I >hlt--  maj  he  observed  flying  about,  evidently  searching 
fiii-  winter  quarters.  With  the  short-winged  form  these  migrations 
t  1  and  from  tin1  places  of  hibernation  air  impossible,  the  insects  being 
totally  incapable  of  flying  because  of  their  short  wings.  A  hint  of 
this  characteristic  maj  he  witnessed  in  the  case  of  the  exclusively 
long-winged  form,  for  in  migrating  from  one  field  in  another,  even 
though  t'ullv  half  of  the  individuals  may  have  I'ulU  developed  wings, 
ample  for  flight,  t  hey  often  t  ravel  on  foot  with  the  young,  even  going 
considerable  distances  from  one  field  to  another. 

Throughout  the  Middle  West .  t  hen.  where  this  insect  doe-  its  great- 
est injury,  the  crops  suffer  from  tun  attacks  annually,  although  the 
later  one  is  seldom  not  iced.  It  must  he  remembered,  however,  that, 
although  attracting  little  or  no  attention,  this  later  attack  i-  of  the 
utmost  importance,  for.  if  there  are  hut  feu  of  the  second  generation 
developing  to  adults,  there  can  he  no  serious  outbreak  the  following 
spring.  If.  on  the  other  hand,  there  ai-e  enormous  numbers  of  adults 
developing  in  t  he  fall  and  going  into  winter  quarters,  t  here  i-  a  proba- 
bility that,  with  weather  during  April  and  Ma\  favorable  for  their 
development,  t  here  will  he  an  excessive  abundance  t  he  following  year. 

It  must  he  remembered  that  each  female  of  the  species  is  capable 
of  laying  from  1  to  500  eggs,  and  she  will  scatter  them  during  a  period 

of  from  two  to  three  week-.      The  time  required  for  the  i'L"^  to  hatch 

i-  from  a  hoi  it  ten  days  to  three  weeks,  and  it  requires  about  fort}  days 
for  the  young  to  become  fully  developed  after  hatching  from  the  egg. 

IIIBI.KN  \  I  li  )\ 

While  the  matter  of  winter  quarters  has  been  previously  mentioned 
in  a  genera]  way,  the  winter  habit  of  the  pest  i-  of  such  importance 

that  this  phase  of  its  life  history  i-  deserving  of  full  explanation. 
Again  and  again  serious  and  destructive  outbreaks  of  the  pesl  in  wheat 
fields  have  been  traced  directly  to  the  influence  of  shocks  of  corn 

fodder   allowed    to   stand    ill    the    fields    throughout    the    winter.      The 
chinch  bugs  which  Hocked  to  these  corn  shocks  the  previous  autumn 
(Or.  US] 


6 

were  protected  throughout  the  winter,  migrating  from  them  in  the 
spring  and  spreading  over  the  wheat  field.  In  .other  cases  destructive 
outbreaks  have  been  traced  directly  to  woodlands  bordering  upon  the 
fields,  the  chinch  bugs  beginning  their  destruction  along  the  margins 
of  the  fields  nearest  to  the  woodlands,  having  passed  the  winter 
among  the  fallen  leaves.  So,  too,  have  destructive  outbreaks  in  the 
Middle  West  been  traced  to  the  matted  grass  and  fallen  leaves  border- 
ing hedges  of  Osage  orange  (fig.  5).  The  farmer  must  understand 
that  it  is  to  such  places  as  these  that  the  chinch  bugs  flock  in  the  fall, 
and  whatever  measures  can  be  effected  to  prevent  their  wintering 


Fig.  5.— A  road  between  two  farms,  with  neglected  hedges  on  either  side  affording  ample  protection  for 
destructive  insects  during  winter.     (Author's  illustration). 

about  his  fields  in  this  manner  will  be  measures  of  protection  to  his 
crop  from  attacks  of  their  offspring  in  the  following  year. 

In  the  timothy  meadows  of  New  England,  New  York,  and  northern 
Ohio  these  conditions  are  of  less  importance,  because  there  the  insects 
pass  the  winter  largely  in  the  meadows  themselves,  and  do  not 
migrate  to  or  from  these  places,  except  to  travel  on  foot.  Chinch 
bugs  will  stand  almost  any  degree  of  cold,  provided  it  is  continuous 
and  they  are  fairly  well  protected  from  sudden  changes.  Thus  it  is 
that  the  farmer  may  be  able  to  take  advantage  of  their  hibernation 
to  deal  a  disastrous  blow  to  their  occurrence  in  his  fields  during  late 
spring  and  early  summer. 

[Clr.  n.'.] 


POOD    i'i   I  \  i  - 

Over  the  western  country  the  major  portion  of  the  damage  Is  thai 
accomplished  in  fields  of  wheat,  barley,  rye,  and  corn,  the  outbreak 
generally  originating  in  wheal  or  barley  fields  and  the  bugs  migrating 
.•it  harvest  t"  the  cornfields.  In  the  eastern  pari  of  the  country, 
where  the  timothj   meadows  are  the  most  seriously  infested,  ilii-  is 

i  i«>t  i  he  case,  ami  he  re  the  migrations  are  a-  likelj  to  be  t"  the  i  i t  h\ 

meadows  as  to  the  fields  of  corn  where  both  ar |ualrj  within  reach. 

Rye  and  <>at-  are  less  liable  to  infestation.  The  chinch  bugs  attach 
BUgar  cane  in  Mexico,  according  t<>  Mr.  Aibeii  Koebele.  Thej  arc 
known  to  attack  the  following  grasses:  Forked  beard-grass  I  Andropo- 
gon  furcatus) ,  broom  beard-grass  I  .1.  scoparius),  oat-grass  I  Arrhena- 
(herum),  bur-grass  I  Cenchrus  tribulaides) ,  millet,  witch  grass  (Panicum 
cap/Mare),  barnyard  grass  (Panicum  crus-gaUi),  Phragmites  sp?,  sor- 
ghum, kaffir  corn,  large  crab-grass  (  Syntiu  risma  sanguinalis),  t  imol  li\ , 
yellow  foxtail  I  Ixophorus  glaucus),  green  foxtail-grass  I  I.  viridis),  Ber- 
muda grass ( Capriola  dactylon),  and  what  is  locally  known  in  Florida 
as  St.  Augustine  grass.  Prof.  Lawrence  Bruner  has  also  found  it 
feeding  upon  so-called  buckwheat  (Polygonum  dumetorum  or  /'.  con- 
volvulus). 

!t  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  inseel  ha-  an  ample  food  supply  outside 
of  the  cultivated  fields. 

I  ikvI'v    (    u  SKI)    MY    (   lll\(  II     BUGS. 

It  would  appear  that  this  pesl  first  made  its  presence  known  h\ 
it-  ravages  in  the  wheat  fields  of  the  North  Carolina  farmers,  for  we 
are  told  that  "in  1785  the  fields  in  this  State  were  SO  overrun  with 
them  as  to  threaten  a  total  destruction  of  the  grain.  And  at  length 
the  crops  were  90  destroyed  in  some  districts  that  farmers  were  obliged 
to  abandon  the  sowing  of  w heat.  It  was  four  or  five  years  that  they 
continued  so  numerous  at  this  time 

In  the  vear  Isn't,  a-  stated  by  Mr.  J.  W.  Jeffeiys,'  the  chinch  bug 
again  became  destructive  in  North  Carolina  to  such  an  extent  that  in 
Orange  County  farmer-  were  obliged  to  suspend  the  sowing  of  wheat 
for  two  year-.  In  1839*  the  pe-t  again  became  destructive  in  the 
Carolina-  and  in  Virginia,  where  the  bugs  migrated  from  the  wheat 
field-  at  harvest  to  the  corn,  and  in  1840  there  w  a-  a  similar  outbreak, 
and  both  w  heat  and  corn  were  seriously  injured.  In  all  of  these  cases, 
however,  there  i-  no  recorded  estimate  of  the  actual  financial  losses 
resulting  from  the  attacks  of  the  chinch  bug.     According  to  l,c  Baron, 

eterom  1'  .  VoL  I,  p.  279.     Not  seen.    Quoted  from  Fitch. 

6 Albany  Cultivator,  iir>t  .-eric.-.  Vol.  VI,  \>.  201. 
-The  Cultivator,  VoL  VI.  p.  L03. 
[fir.  118] 


8 

during  the  years  from  1845  to  1850  the  insect  ravaged  Illinois  and 
portions  of  Indiana  and  Wisconsin,  and  in  1854  and  1S55  it  again 
worked  .serious  injury  in  northern  Illinois.  The  writer's  earliest  recol- 
lection of  the  chinch  bug  and  its  ravages  in  the  grain  fields  of  the 
settlers  on  the  prairies  dates  from  this  last  outbreak.  Mr.  B.  D. 
Walsh  estimated  the  loss  to  the  farmers  of  Illinois  in  1850  at 
$4,000,000,  or  $4.70  to  every  man,  woman,  and  child  living  in  the 
State. 

In  1863,  186',  and  1865  the  insect  was  again  destructive  in  Illinois 
and  other  Western  States,  its  ravages  heing  especially  severe  in  1864, 
when  we  have  another  attempt  at  computation  of  the  financial  loss. 
Dr.  Henry  Shinier,  of  Mount  Carroll,  111.,  who  had  carefully  studied 
the  chinch  hug,  estimated  that  "three-fourths  of  the  wheat  and  one- 
half  of  the  corn  crop  were  destroyed  by  the  pest  throughout  many 
extensive  districts,  comprising  almost  the  entire  Northwest."  In 
criticizing  the  doctor  regarding  another  point,  Walsh  and  Riley" 
admit  that  the  estimate  was  "a  reasonable  one,"  and.  taking  it  as  a 
basis,  with  the  actual  cash  price  per  bushel,  computed  the  loss  at 
about  30,000,000  bushels  of  wheat  and  138,000,000  bushels  of  corn, 
with  a  total  value  of  both  amounting  to  over  873,000,000.  Of  course, 
all  computations  of  this  sort  are  necessarily  only  approximately 
correct,  but  there  is  more  likelihood  of  an  underestimate  than  of  an 
overestimate  in  this  case. 

There  was  a  serious  outbreak  of  the  chinch  bug  in  the  West  in  the 
year  1868,  and  again  in  1871,  but  in  1874  the  ravages  were  both  wide- 
spread and  enormous.  Le  Baron  computed  the  loss  in  1871  in  seven 
States,  viz,  Iowa,  Missouri,  Illinois,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Wisconsin, 
and  Indiana,  at  $30,000,000. b  Riley  computed  the  loss  in  Missouri 
alone  in  the  year  1874  at  $19,000,000,  and  added  the  statement  that 
for  the  area  covered  by  Le  Baron's  estimates  in  1871  the  loss  in  1874 
might  safely  be  put  down  as  double,  or  upward  of  $60, 000, 000. c 
Dr.  Cyrus  Thomas,  however,  estimates  the  loss  to  the  whole  country 
for  the  same  year  at  upward  of  $100,000,000/ 

The  next  serious  outbreak  of  the  chinch  bug  of  which  we  have  an 
estimate  of  the  losses  occurred  in  1887,  and  covered  more1  or  less 
territory  in  the  States  of  Kentucky,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Wisconsin, 
Minnesota,  Iowa,  Missouri,  and  Kansas.  In  this  case  the  damage 
was  estimated  by  the  United  States  statistician,  Mr.  J.  R.  Dodge,  at 
$60,000,000,  the  heaviest  losses  occurring  in  Illinois,  Iowa,  Missouri, 
and  Kansas/     This  gives  us  as  the  estimated  loss  in  the  thirty-eight 

"  American  Entomologist,  Vol.  I,  p.  197,  1869. 
'<  Second  Report  Stale  Entomologist  of  Illinois,  p,  11!. 
c  Seventh  Report  State  Entomologifll  of  Missouri,  pp.  24-25. 
'i  Bulletin  No.  5,  U.  S.  Entomological  Commission,  p.  7. 
<  Report  of  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  for  1887,  p.  50. 
[Or.  li:;j 


years  from  1850  n>  is^7,  both  inclusive,  the  enormous  Bum  of 
•7,000,000. 

There  was  a  serious  outbreak  in  Kansas,  [owe,  Minnesota,  and 
Illinois,  having  its  beginning  probably  as  earl}  as  1892,  bul  reaching 
its  maximum  severity,  as  in  Ohio,  in  1896.  The  loss  in  Ohio  during 
the  years  1894,  1895,  1896,  and  1897  could  no!  have  fallen  far  shorl 

12,000,000.  If  we  could  have  careful  estimates  of  the  loss  during 
the  last  fifteen  years  if  would  in  all  probability  Bwell  the  amounl  to 
considerably  in  excess  of  $350,000,000  for  the  period  from  1850  to 
1909.     (See  map,  fig 


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-Ana  In  I 

(.Author  s  illustration.) 

\  \  ii  i:  \i.  i.m  mm  9  <>i    THE  CHINCH   B1  <■. 

Chinch  bugs  have  few  Datura!  enemies,  nunc  of  which,  owing, 

perhaps,  to  their  repugnanl  odor,  appears  t«>  be  of  an\  verj  great 
importance  when  it  comes  to  suppressing  a  serious  invasion.  They 
are  far  more  fortunate  than  mosl  insects  in  escaping  the  attack-  of 
natural  enemies  thai  exert  a  tremendous  influence  in  holding  other 
species  in  (heck. 

tiik  BOBWHRl  OB  Q1  All 

Inland,  the  common  "quail"  or  bobwhite  (Colinus  virginianus)  \< 
the  only  bird  that  can  he  said  to  devour  the  chinch  bug  in  considerable 
numbers.  It  is  said  that  from  .".mi  to  inn  chinch  bugs  have  been 
found  in  the  crops  of  bobwhites;  inn.  however,  i-  the  largest  number 
found  so  far  by  the  Biological  Survey.     As  the  bobwhite  is  one  of 

!>!M7— Cir.  I  l:i — 09 2 


I 


10 

our  most  highly  prized  game  birds,  it  is  slaughtered  annually  in 
tremendous  numbers,  frequently  with  no  other  object  in  view  except- 
ing for  gain.  Some  also  are  killed  by  flying  against  electric  wires, 
while  during  severe  winters  entire  coveys  are  sometimes  smothered 
or  frozen  under  the  snow.  As  a  result,  the  helpfulness  of  the  quail 
against  chinch  bugs  is  greatly  diminished.  It  would  seem  that  as 
important  an  enemy  of  the  chinch  bug  as  this  bird  is  known  to  be 
would  receive  protective  immunity  throughout  the  agricultural 
regions  and  that  farmers  would  see  to  it  that  protective  laws  were 
not  only  enacted  but  also  stringently  enforced. 

The  following  list  will  show  the  degree  of  protection  offered  the 
quail  by  legislative  enactment  in  the  States  where  the  chinch  bug  is 
the  most  destructive  (see  map,  fig.  (>).  The  close  seasons  lor  quail 
in  the  several  States,  during  which  killing  is  prohibited  by  law,  are 
as  follows:0 

Maine,  all  the  year. 

New  York,  December  1  to  November  1,  except  in  Dutchess,  Putnam.  Richmond, 
Rockland,  and  Westchester  counties,  where  it  is  closed  until  1910. 
Pennsylvania,  November  15  to  October  15. 
Ohio,  December  5  to  November  L">. 
Indiana,  January  1  to  November  10. 
Illinois,  December  10  to  November  11. 
Minnesota,  December  1  to  October  1. 
Iowa,  December  15  to  November  1. 
Missouri,  January  1  to  November  1. 
Nebraska,  all  the  year. 
Kansas,  December  15  to  November  15. 
Oklahoma,  February  1  to  November  15. 
Texas,  February  1  to  November  1 . 

The  breeding  season  from  latitude  38°  northward  to  Canada  begins 
in  May  and  continues  through  July  and  occasionally  into  September. 

OTHER    BIRD    ENEMIES. 

To  what  extent  the  birds  of  the  coast  region  feed  upon  the  chinch 
bug  it  is  impossible  to  sa}7.  However,  among  the  bird  enemies 
of  the  pest  are  the  prairie  chicken,  redwing  blackbird,  catbird, 
brown  thrush  or  thrasher,  meadowlark,  house  wren,  tree  swallow, 
horned  lark,  Arkansas  kingbird,  Traill  flycatcher,  seaside  sparrow, 
savanna  sparrow,  song  sparrow,  tree  sparrow,  and  barn  swallow. 

THE    EROC 

Dr.  Cyrus  Thomas  quotes  Ross  and  others  as  stating  that  the 
common  frog  is  an  enemy  of  the  chinch  bug.  While  this  is  probably 
true,  it  is  nevertheless  well  known  that  comparatively  few  frogs 
frequent  grain  fields,  as  a  rule,  and  thus  the  benefit  derived  from 
their  attacks  is  of  too  little  importance  to  merit   further  notice. 

a  From  Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  376,  pp.  18-29,  1909. 
[Cir,  1 1:;| 


11 


ISM  i    I     KS'KMIKS 


Of  the  invertebrate  enemies  "f  the  chinch  bug  the  same  may  be 
said  as  of  the  frog.  Thewriter  1 1  a  -  occasionally  found  a  chinch  bug 
containing  a  species  of  Mermis,  or  "hair  Bnake."  Occasionally, 
also,  ;i n t  ->  in;i\  be  seen  dragging  these  l>u:_r-  away,  while  lady-beetles 
have  sometimes  been  round  to  devour  them,  as  recorded  bj  Walsh 
jiikI  Forbes.  Perhaps  the  worst  insect  enemies  of  the  chinch  l>u«,r 
are  to  be  found  among  its  comparat  ivelj  near  relatives  the  insidious 
Bower  bug  (TripMeps  insidiosus  Say),  (Anthocoris  pseudo-chinch  of 
Pitch's  Second  Report),  ;m<l  Milyoa  ductus  Fab.,  the  latter  being 
reported  l>.\  Thomas  as  the  most  efficient  of  the  insect  enemies  of 
this  pest,  while  Rile]  found  that  the  former  also  attacked  it.  Pro- 
fessor Forbes  ascertained,  by  examinations  of  the  contents  of  the 
stomach  of  a  ground  beetle  (Agonoderus  pattipes  Fab.),  thai  one- 
fifth  of  1 1  uv  total  food  of  this  species  was  composed  <>f  chinch  bugs. 
Shimer  and  Walsh  both  claim  that  lacewing  flies  (Chrysopa  spp.) 
destroy  chinch  bugs,  and  they  arc  doubtless  correct.  The  writer 
has  also  M'!\  often  found  dead  chinch  bugs  entangled  in  spider 
webs,  although  whether  killed  Tor  food  or  by  accident  it  has  been 
impossible  to  determine. 

NATURAL   CHECKS   OTHEB    THAN     LNIMALS. 
There   are   two   natural   checks   to   the    increase   of   the   chinch    bug 

other  than  animal  enemies.  Oneof  these  is  vegetable  in  nature,  being 
a  fungus,  the  other  meteorological,  and  the  interrelation  of  the  two 
i>  go  close  that  the  former  is  almost  entirely  dependent  upon  the 
latter.  It  will  at  once  he  -ecu  that  the  chinch  bug,  occurring, 
does,  from  but  little  north  of  the  equator  to  nearly  a  latitude  of  50 
north  and  from  an  elevation  of  upward  of  200  feet  above  the  sea 
level  in  the  Imperial  Valley  of  southern  California  to  an  elevation 
of  upward  of  6,000  feet  in  the  mountain  regions,  must  he  able  to 
withstand  almosl  every  conceivable  variation  of  climatic  conditions. 
map,  fig.  7.)  So  far  as  the  influence  of  temperature  is  con- 
cerned, it  i-  only  in  the  most  unprotected  situations  that  severe 
winter  weather  appears  to  have  much  effect  in  regulating  the  abun- 
dance of  the  pest,  although  frequenl  freezing  and  thawing  is  known 
to  he  fatal  to  a  large  percentage  of  the  adults  if  these  occur  in  exposed 
situations.  Thus  temperature  may  practically  he  eliminated  from 
consideration.  It  is  also  true  that  the  nearly  developed  insect  will 
withstand  not  only  the  humidity  of  the  Tropic-,  hut  continuous 
drenching  rams  of  more  northern  latitudes.  It  is  at  the  time  of 
hatching  that  the  species  is  most  susceptible  to  meteorological  con- 
dition-. Frequent  drenching  rains  during  the  hatching  season  are 
fatal  to  the  pest  almost  to  the  extent  of  extermination,  ami  it  is  due 

[Cir.  113] 


12 

to  this  more  than  to  any  other  influence  that  the  chinch  bug  is  kept 
within  the  limits  of  its  present  abundance  and  destructiveness. 
It  matters  little  how  great  a  number  of  these  insects  pass  the  winter 
in  safety,  provided  there  are  sufficiently  prolonged,  drenching  rains 


Fig.  7.— Map  of  North  America  showing  areas  infested  by  chinch  bug.    (Author's  illustration.) 

during  the  hatching  period.  Again,  with  an  excessive  abundance 
of  individuals  developing  from  the  first  generation,  if  at  the  time 
of  the  hatching  of  the  young  of  the  second  generation  there  are 
frequent  drenching  rains,  an  outbreak  the  following  year  is  prevented. 
Thus  it  is  that  although  an  outbreak  may  seem  inevitable  as  the 

[Cir.  113] 


13 

on  for  the  ravages  of  the  chinch  bug  draw-  near,  there  is  often  a 
radical  reduction  instead  of  an  increase  in  [lumbers.  The  forecasl  ing 
of  chinch-bug  outbreaks  is  therefore  based  wholly  upon  the  fore 
oasting,  months  in  advance,  of  meteorological  conditions  thai  are 
likely  to  occur  a!  certain  periods.  II'  the  fanner  would  but  watch 
the  seasons,  he  need  no!  be  taken  unawares  l»\  chinch-bug  outbreaks, 
ns  dry  weather  during  the  two  breeding  seasons  is  usually  sufficient 
to  precipitate  an  invasion  the  following  year,  provided  that,  al  the 
critical  period  or  time  of  hatching,  rain-  do  uol  destroy  the  young. 
The  general  statement  ma}  be  made  thai  throughout  the  Middle 
Wests  <lr\  June  followed  h\  a  drj  Augusl  is  favorable  for  the  develop- 
ment of  chinch  bugs.  These  dates  will  of  course  vary,  and  must  uol 
be  applied  to  the  more  southern  or  more  northern  localities. 

PAH  \-n  II     I  I  S'-l 

The  fact  that  the  abundance  and  consequent  influence  of  fungous 
enemies  of  the  chinch  bug  arc  almosl  entirely  dependent  upon 
meteorological  conditions  is  sufficient  to  place  them  in  a  secondary 
position,  even  though  they  ma\ .  under  favorable  weather  condition-, 
act  as  natural  checks. 

Dr.  lleni\  Shimer"  long  ago  made  the  truthful  and  important 
■statement  that  •'this  disease  among  the  chinch  bugs  was  associated 
with  the  long-continued  wet,  cloudy,  cool  weather  that  prevailed 
during  a  greater  portion  of  the  period  of  their  development."  These 
are  precisely  the  conditions  under  which  these  fungi  have  been 
observed  to  prove  the  most  fatal  to  the  chinch  bug  during  recent 
years  where  their  introduction  among  the  host  insects  was  accom- 
plished bj  artificial  means.  Although  Shimer  probablj  never 
anticipated  the  artificial  cultivation  of  his  "disease"  and  the  results 
which  have  since  hen  obtained  from  it-  artificial  dissemination  in 
the  fields,  yet  his  careful  and  painstaking  studies  musl  ever  be  asso- 
ciated with  the  application  of  fungous  diseases  in  the  destruction 

of  insects   in    America. 

The  principal  fungus  to  he  artificially  employed  in  destroying 
chinch  bugs  has  conic  to  be  known  as  the  chinch-bug  fungus  {Sporo- 
trichum  globuHferum  Speg.),and  this  i-  the  one  used  by  Doctor  Snow 
in  Kansas  for  artificial  introduction  into  localities  where  there  i-  an 
overabundance  of  these  bugs. 

Doctor-  Roland  Thaxter  and  S.  A.  Forbes  devised  a  method  of 
artificial  cultivation,  the  latter  using  a  basis  of  sterilized  mixture  of 
beef  broth  and  corn  meal.  As  this  fungus  has  man]  other  host 
insects,  it  is  probably  present  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  throughout 
the  country  every  year.     There  i<  no  doubl  that  during  wet  weather 

oPr<«    Acad.  Nat.  S<  i.  Phila.,  May,  LS 

[lir.  1  IS] 


14 

considerable  benefit  may  be  derived  from  the  artificial  cultivation 
and  application  of  this  fungus,  but  its  efficiency  is  very  dependent 
upon  this  meterological  condition,  and,  as  has  already  been  shown, 
chinch  bugs  develop  in  the  greatest  abundance  in  dry  seasons.  It 
will  thus  be  seen  that  only  during  unusual  seasons — that  is  to  say, 
seasons  that  have  been  dry  while  the  chinch  bugs  were  hatching  from 
the  eggs  but  wet  afterwards — can  satisfactory  results  be  expected 
from  this  measure. 

The  effects  of  this  fungus  have  probably  been  overestimated, 
although  there  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  those  who  have  been  most 
instrumental  in  popularizing  this  means  of  destroying  chinch  bugs 
were  thoroughly  sincere  and  honest  in  their  statements.  One  very 
important  element  of  deception  to  the  ordinary  farmer,  when 
assuming  the  results  of  the  effect  of  this  fungus,  lies  in  the  fact  that 
chinch  bugs,  when  molting  for  the  last  time  and  passing  from  the 
last-stage  larva  to  the  adult,  hide  away  under  the  sheaths  of  corn 
and  other  grain,  and,  casting  the  larval  skin,  make  their  escape, 
leaving  this  behind.  These  cast  skins  will  occur  in  immense  num- 
bers in  such  places  and  frequently  become  covered  with  a  white  mold. 
It  is  almost  impossible  for  anyone  except  an  expert  to  distinguish 
the  difference  between  chinch  bugs  that  have  been  actually  killed 
by  this  fungus  and  the  mass  of  cast  skins  covered  with  ordinary 
mold.  The  uncertainty  as  to  the  effects  of  this  fungus  is  responsible 
for  its  having  fallen  largely  into  disuse  during  recent  years.  It  will 
thus  be  seen  that  this  whole  matter  hinges  upon  meteorological 
conditions  which  are,  as  has  been  stated,  most  powerful  factors  in 
holding  the  chinch  bug  continually  in  check,  and  it  is  following  a 
succession  of  dry  seasons  that  the  pest  commences  to  become  destruc- 
tive. During  seasons  of  excessive  abundance  of  chinch  bugs,  this 
fungus  will  almost  invariably  appear  among  them  in  the  fields,  pro- 
vided that  at  this  time  there  occurs  a  considerable  period  of  wet 
weather. 

REMEDIAL  AND  PREVENTIVE  MEASURES. 

All  remedial  and  preventive  measures  that  have  been  found  to 
possess  the  merit  of  reasonable  efficiency  and  practicability  are 
discussed  in  the  following  pages.  These  may  not  all  prove  appli- 
cable in  all  localities  or  under  ever}' variety  of  circumstance,  and  the 
farmer  will  often  have  to  adapt  his  protective  measures  to  weather 
conditions,  location  of  field  and  its  surroundings,  and  to  the  thou- 
sand and  one  other  variations  of  a  similar  nature. 

DESTRUCTION    OF  CHINCH    BUGS    WHILE    IN    HIBERNATION. 

The  first  effort  that  may  be  made  with  a  view  to  warding  off  an 
attack  of  chinch  bugs  is  to  destroy  them  in  their  winter  quarters. 

[fir.  113] 


L5 

This  can  be  accomplished  by  burning  all  dried  grass,  leaves,  or  other 
rubbish  during  winter  or  earl}  Bpring.  The  burning  of  nil  Buch 
9  will  destroy  thousands  of  bugs  in  their  winter  quarters;  but 
Bometimes  the  matted  bluegrass  remains  green  in  winter,  or  the 
weather  is  not  sufficiently  drj  to  enable  the  farmer  i>»  burn  over 
such  places.  In  such  cases  a  flock  of  sheep,  if  given  the  freedom  "l 
tlu-  fields  during  winter  and  spring,  will  eat  off  all  living  vegetation 
and  trample  the  ground  with  their  small  feet,  so  that  not  onlj  is  all 
covering  for  the  bugs  removed,  but  j 1 1 — * »  the  !>uur-  are  crushed  to 
death.     So  ii  i->  with  the  matted  grass  along  roadsides  and  fenc 


rown  with  I  tor 

1 u 

especially  the  Virginia  worm  rail  fence  (fig.  8).  The  ease  with  which 
the  narrow  strip  of  grass  land  along  a  post-and-wire  fence  can  be  kepi 
free  of  matted  grass  and  leaves,  as  compared  with  thai  along  a  hedge 
or  rail  fence,  indicates  thai  there  may  be  an  entomological  factor 
connected  with  the  modern  fence  that  has  been  overlooked,  giving 
it.  in  this  respect,  an  advantage  over  the  more  ancienl  form.  A 
id  illustration  of  the  facl  that  large  numbers  of  chinch  bugs  may  be 
in  hiding  among  fallen  leaves  in  woods  and  other  places  and  escape 
detection  is  shown  by  the  facl  thai  a  quantity  of  dried  leaves  from 
about  a  vineyard  located  on  a  narrow  neck  of  land  about  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  from  the  Bay  of  Sandusky  on  the  one  side,  and  about    i  . 

[Or.  113] 


16 

miles  from  tho  shore  of  Lake  Eric  on  the  opposite  side,  was  col- 
lected late  in  April.  At  the  time  of  collecting  the  leaves  only  an 
occasional  chinch  bug  was  to  be  observed,  but  under  a  warm  atmos- 
phere they  began  to  bestir  themselves,  and  soon  demonstrated  that 
there  had  been  a  large  Dumber  ensconced  unseen  among  the  dried 
and  curled,  dead  grape  leaves. 

Shocks  of  fodder  corn,  left  in  the  fields  over  winter,  certainly 
afford  protection  for  many  chinch  bugs,  as  will  also  coarse  stable 
manure  spread  on  the  fields  before  the  chinch  bugs  have  selected 
their  place  of  hibernation  in  the  fall.  In  short,  the  first  protective 
measure  to  be  carried  out  is  a  general  cleaning  up  in  winter  or  early 
spring  either  by  burning,  or  pasturing,  or  both. 

SOWING    DECOY    PI.ATS    OF    ATTRACTIVE    GRAINS    OR    GRASSES    IN     EARLY    SPRING. 

Judging  from  the  manner  in  which  the  overwintered  adults  are 
attracted  to  hills  of  young  corn,  wheat  fields,  or  plats  of  panic  and 
foxtail  grasses,  it  has  always  seemed  to  the  writer  practicable  to 
take  advantage  of  this  habit  and  sow  small  patches  of  millet,  Hun- 
garian grass,  spring  wheat,  or  even  corn,  early  in  the  spring  and  thus 
bait  the  adults  as  they  come  forth  from  their  places  of  hibernation. 
Their  instincts  will  prompt  them  to  seek  out  the  places  likely  to 
afford  the  most  desirable  food  supply  for  their  progeny,  and,  if  an  arti- 
ficial supply  can  be  offered  them  that  will  be  more  attractive  than 
that  furnished  by  nature,  the  bugs  will  certainly  not  overlook  the 
fact,  but  will  take  advantage  of  it  to  congregate  and  deposit  their  eggs 
there,  whereupon  eggs,  young,  and  adults  can,  a  little  later,  be 
summarily  dealt  with  by  plowing  both  bugs  and  their  food  under 
and  harrowing  and  rolling  the  ground  to  keep  the  former  from 
crawling  to  the  surface  and  escaping.  The  writer  has  thoroughly 
tested  this  method  in  a  case  where  the  bugs,  young  and  old,  had 
taken  possession  of  a  plat  of  neglected  ground  overrun  with  panic 
grass  (Panicum  crus-galli),  which  was  mown  and  promptly  removed 
and  the  ground  plowed,  harrowed,  and  rolled  before  the  bugs  could 
escape,  thus  burying  them  beneath  several  inches  of  soil,  out  of  which 
they  were  unable  to  make  their  way.  As  a  consequence  they  were 
almost  totally  annihilated,  hardly  1  per  cent  making  their  escape  to 
an  adjoining  cornfield. 

WATCHFULNESS    DURING    FROTRACTED   PERIODS    OF    DROUGHT. 

It  has  always  appeared  to  the  writer  as  though  a  little  watchfulness 
on  the  part  of  farmers  during  periods  of  drought  might  enable  them 
to  determine  whether  or  not  chinch  bugs  were  present  in  any  con- 
siderable numbers  in  their  fields  in  time  to  interpose  a  strip  of  millet 
between  the  wheat  and  corn,  to  he  utilized  later  as  previously  indi- 
[Clr.  113] 


17 

cated.  [nstsnces  have  come  under  observation  where,  in  wheal  fields 
overgrown  with  panic  grass  and  meadow  foxtail,  the  bugs  transferred 
their  attention  to  these  grasses  as  Boon  ih  the  wheal  was  harvested. 
In  such  cases  a  prompl  plowing  of  the  ground  would  have  placed  the 
depredators  beyond  the  possibilit)  of  doing  an)  Berious  injury.  If 
the  weather  at  the  time  is  hoi  and  dry .  ;i  mower  ma)  be  run  over  the 
Btubble  fields  or  along  the  borders  of  them,  cutting  off  grass,  weeds, 
and  Btubble,  as  the  « •  j  i  -<  *  *  may  be,  leaving  them  t<>  dry  in  the  hoi  Bun, 
when,  in  a  few  hours,  they  will  burn  sufficiently  to  roasl  all  bugs 
among  them,  and.  while  nol  destroying  ever)  individual,  this  will 
reduce  their  numbers  to  BuCh  an  extenl  thai  they  will  be  unable  to 
w  ork  anj  Berious  injur)  , 

l>li  I  n  I  I  I  •»    "I     REACHING    i  111  si  II    BUGS    IN    MBADOW8 

There  is,  however,  Borne  « l< nil >i  in  regard  to  the  practicabilit)  "f 
applying  these  measures  in  timothy  meadows.  Meadow  hind-  can  be 
burned  over  with  perfect  safety  to  either  the  grass  or  clover,  if  done 
while  ilif  ground  is  frozen,  bul  there  is  danger  of  injury  if  burned 
over  in  spring,  and  it  is  Bomewhal  doubtful  if  the  hibernating  chinch 
bugs  would  be  killed  unless  the  surface  of  the  ground  \\ a-  heated  to  a 
degree  thai  the  grass  and  clover  plants  would  hardly  l>e  a  hie  to  with- 
stand. 

Infested  areas  of  meadow  land  could  be  plowed,  it  is  true;  hut  the 
work  would  have  to  be  done  very  carefully,  else  the  grass  and  stubble 
would  be  left  to  protrude  above  ground  along  each  furrow  and  con- 
stitute so  many  ladders  by  which  the  chinch  bugs  could  easil)  crawl 
out  and  make  their  escape.  Where  the  ground  will  admit  of  sub- 
soiling,  Or  where  a  "jointer"  plow  can  he  used,  this  latter  difficulty 
can  be  easily  overcome.  Usually,  however,  the  chinch  bugs  work  too 
irregularly  in  a  field  to  permit  of  plow  ing  under  infested  areas  w  ithoul 
disfiguring  the  field  too  much  for  practical  purposes,  especially  in  the 
case  of  meadows,  unless  it  be  where  the  bugs  have  migrated  en  masse 
from  an  adjoining  field,  when  a  narrow  strip  along  the  border  can 
often  he  sacrificed  to  good  advantage.  In  many  instances  the  drastic 
measure  of  turning  under  a  few  outer  rows  of  corn  with  the  plow  would 
have  saved  as  many  acre-  from  destruction.  In  the  majority  of  cases  it 
is  the  fault  of  t  he  farmer  himself  that  t hese  measures  are  nol  effective, 
a-  he  will  seldom  take  the  trouble  to  burn  the  dead  leave-,  grass,  and 
trash  aboul  his  premises  at  the  proper  time,  ami  when  there  occurs  an 
invasion  of  chinch  bugs,  instead  of  resorting  to  heroic  and  energetic 
measures  to  conquer  them  on  a  small  area,  he  USUall)  hesitates  and 
delays  in  order  to  determine  whether  or  not  the  attack  i-  to  !„•  a 
Berious  one,  and  by  the  time  he  has  decided  which  it  i-  to  he  the 
matter  has  gone  too  far.  and  the  chinch  bugs  have  taken  possession 

[fir.  113] 


18 

of  his  field.  This  is  especially  true  in  the  West,  where  the  bugs  breed 
exclusively  in  t  he  fields  of  \\  heat  and  remain  unobserved  until  harvest . 
when  they  suddenly  and  without  warning  precipitate  themselves  upon 
the  growing  corn  in  adjacent  fields.  Ju  fighting  the  chinch  bug 
promptness  of  action  is  about  as  necessary  as  it  is  in  lighting  fire. 

ELIMINATING    CHINCH    BUGS    FROM    TIMOTHY    MEADOWS    BY    CROP   ROTATION. 

Iii  several  instances  where  chinch  bugs  have  become  especially 
destructive  to  timothy  meadows  over  considerable  areas  of  country, 
it  has  been  found  that  these  outbreaks  were  attributable  to  the  fact 
that  these  sections  of  country  were  largely  given  over  to  dairying. 
The  dairymen  and  stockmen  found  it  more  desirable  to  allow  timothy 
pastures  and  meadows  to  remain  more  or  less  permanent,  with  the 
result  that  the  chinch  bugs  gradually  became  so  excessively  abundant 
as  to  destroy  the  grasses  on  these  areas.  In  a  number  of  instances  it 
was  found  that  where  the  prevailing  agricultural  methods  were 
changed  and  the  infested  grass  lands  were  broken  up  and  devoted  to 
other  crops,  the  difficulty  was  eliminated,  as  the  new  meadows  were 
not  attacked.  This  shows  that  throughout  the  country  where  the 
short-winged  chinch  bug  attacks  timothy  meadows  a  rotation  crop 
will  be  found  an  efficient  measure  in  overcoming  the  difficulty  witli  a 
reasonable  degree  of  permanency. 

UTILITY   OF   KEROSENE    IX    FIGHTING    CHINCH    BUGS. 

In  lighting  the  chinch  bug  there  is  at  present  no  more  useful  sub- 
stance than  kerosene,  either  in  the  form  of  an  emulsion  or  undiluted. 
From  its  penetrating  nature,  prompt  action,  and  fatal  effects  on  the 
chinch  bug,  even  when  applied  as  an  emulsion,  it  becomes  an  inex- 
pensive insecticide,  while  it  has  the  further  advantage  of  being  an 
article  universally  found  in  every  farmhouse,  and  is  therefore  always 
at  hand  for  immediate  use.  The  emulsion  has  the  further  advantage 
of  being  capable  of  sufficient  reduction  in  strength  to  preclude  injury 
to  the  vegetation  while  still  strong  enough  to  be  fatal  to  insect  life. 
Diluted  and  ready  for  use,  the  emulsion  is  prepared  as  follows:  Dis- 
solve one-half  pound  of  hard  soap  in  1  gallon  of  water,  preferably 
rain  water,  heated  to  the  boiling  point  over  a  brisk  fire,  and  pour  this 
suds  while  still  hot  into  2  gallons  of  kerosene.  Churn  or  otherwise 
agitate  this  mixture  for  a  few  minutes  until  it  becomes  of  a  cream- 
like consistency  and,  on  cooling,  forms  a  jellylike  mass  which  adheres 
to  the  surface  of  glass  without  oiliness.  For  each  gallon  of  this  emul- 
sion use  15  gallons  of  water,  mixing  thoroughly.  If  applied  to  growing 
corn,  it  will  be  best  to  use  the  emulsion  either  during  the  morning  or 
evening,  say  before  8  a.  m.  or  after  5  p.  m.,  as  at  these  times  it  will 
be  less  likely  to  affect  the  plants  than  if  applied  in  the  heat  of  the  day. 
[Cir.  l  i.".J 


L9 

Where  mi  invasion  "I  i In-  eliineh  I > 1 1 l_t  is  in  progress  from  a  field  <  f 
wheat  i<>  an  adjoining  field  of  corn,  as  an  illustration,  the  marginal 
rows  of  corn  can  l>e  frequently  Baved,  even  niter  the  l>u'_r-  have 
massed  upon  the  plants,  l>\  spraying  or  sprinkling  them  freerj  with 
kerosene  emulsion,  being  careful  n< >t  to  L,ret  much  of  it  directly  into 
the  crown  of  the  plains  and  using  a  sufficient  quantity  so  that  the 
emulsion  will  run  down  the  outside  and  reach  such  bugs  as  are  about 
the  base  of  the  plants.  This  treatment  will  kill  the  bugs  clustered 
upon  the  corn,  and  in  case  of  those  on  the  waj  to  the  field,  while  it 
will  not  keep  them  out.  it  will  cause  a  hall  in  the  invasion,  and  thus 
"jive  the  farmer  an  opportunity  to  put  other  measures  in  operation, 
one  of  which  will  include  the  use  of  kerosene  in  another  manner.     If 

a  deep  furrow  i>  plowed  along  the  edge  of  the  field,  running  the  land 
side  oi  t  he  plow  tow  aid  the  field  to  he  protected,  I  he  furrow  w  ill  form 
a  temporary   harrier  to  the  incoming  hordes. 

1   III  1 1' \     nr    DBBFL1     PLOWED    FURROWS    SUPPLEMENTED    n      no      i   -I     01     KEROSENE 

nil  i  BION 

In  dry   weather  the  sides  of  the  furrow    can   he  made  SO  steep    and 

the  soil  bo  finely  pulverized  that  when  the  chinch  bugs  attempt    to 

crawl  up  out  of  the  furrow  the\  will  continually  i"ll  hack  to  the  bot- 
tom, where  they  can  he  sprinkled  with  either  kerosene  alone  or  with 
the  much  less  expensive  emulsion  and  killed.  In  case  of  showery 
weather,  which  prevents  the  side-  of  the  furrow  from  remaining  loose 

and  dr\  .  the  bottom  can  he  cleared  out  with  a  shovel,  making  it    more 

smooth  and  the  sides  more  perpendicular,  thus  rendering  it  so  much 
easier  for  the  hu<Xs  to  follow  along  the  bottom  than  t  •  attempt  to 
climb  the  sides.  If  holes  are  dug  across  the  bottom  at  distances  of, 
say,  30  or  10  feet,  the  bugs  will  fall  into  them  and  can  he  .-till  more 
easily  disposed  of  by  the  use  of  kerosene.  That  both  of  these  meas- 
ures are  thoroughly  practicable  the  writer  can  attest  by  ample  per- 
sonal experience,  and  he  knows  that  under  most  conditions  that  are 
likely  to  obtain  prompt  and  efficient  application  is  all  that  i-  neces- 
sary. During  a  few  days  this  work  will  demand  the  closest  watching 
and  application,  hut  fields  of  grain  can  he  protected  thoroughly  and 

effectually  if  these  measures  are  faithfully  carried  out.  and  the 
expense  of  time  and  money  will  he  found  to  hi'  less  than  in  almost 
any  other  plan  that  has  been  discovered  up  to  tin-  lime.  In  110  case 
has  a  field  attacked  1>\  a  migrating  army  of  chinch  bugs  come  under 
the  writer's  observation  hut  that  might  have  been  saved  from  very 
serious  injury  by  the  prompt  use  of  either  of  these  measures,  though 
under  some  conditions  the  farmer  might  find  it  advantageous  to 
apply  some  of  the  other  methods  of  protection  here  given.  In  all  of 
the  following  methods  crude  petroleum   may   he  substituted   for  coal 

tar  if  the  former  is  more  easily  obtainable. 

[Ctr.  118] 


20 


THE    SURFACE   AND   COAL-TAR    METHOD. 


The  objections  made  by  farmers  to  the  use  of  most  of  these  bar- 
riers is  that  the  finest  pulverized  soil  soon  becomes  incrusted  by  even 
the  slightest  rainfall  and  the  bugs  then  pass  over  it  without  difficulty, 
while  harriers  of  boards  are  expensive.  It  is  feasible  to  eliminate 
both  by  simply  smoothing  off  a  path  along  the  margin  of  an 
infested  field  where  such  an  one  adjoins  the  one  to  be  protected. 
This  can  be  done  with  a  sharp  hoe,  and  as  the  margins  of  wheat 
fields  usually  become  compacted,  it  is  but  little  trouble  to  thus 
clear  off  a  path  a  foot  or  more  in  width,  smooth  as  a  floor,  with 
the  surface  almost  as  hard.  Along  this  path  circular  post  holes 
are  sunk,  as  in  the  bottom  of  furrows,  and  a  train  of  coal  tar  is  run 
between  them,  being  so  arranged  that  it  will  reach  the  post  hole 
at  the  edge  farthest  from  the  field  from  which  the  bugs  are  migrat- 
ing. The  bugs,  on  reaching  the  train  of  coal  tar,  will  follow  along 
until  they  reach  the  post  hole,  while  those  meeting  with  the  post 
hole  will  usually  divide  and,  following  around  it,  join  with  the 
flow  of  bugs  moving  along  the  train  of  coal  tar.  The  result  is  that 
they  become  congested  in  the  acute  angle  where  the  coal-tar  train 
is  intercepted  by  the  post  holes.  Those  in  the  apex  of  this  angle 
can  not  turn  back,  and  thus  are  continually  pushed  into  the  post 
holes  by  those  behind.  As  the  bugs,  varying  from  the  red  larvae 
of  the  younger  stages  to  the  almost  black  ones  of  the  last  stage, 
mass  along  the  line  of  coal  tar,  they  have  much  the  appearance  of 
a  reddish-brown  stream  running  into  the  holes.  From  these  holes 
there  is  no  escape  and  here  the  bugs  can  readily  be  killed  b}T  sprinkling 
with  kerosene.  The  slightest  train  of  coal  tar  is  sufficient  to  obstruct 
the  passage  of  the  bugs,  and  light  rains  will  not  affect  its  efficiency. 
In  dry  weather  these  trains  of  coal  tar  soon  become  covered  over  wit  li 
dust  and  must  be  renewed;  but  in  showery  weather  there  is  no  dust, 
and  if  the  coal  tar  is  renewed  daily  or,  at  most,  twice  each  day,  it  will 
accomplish  its  work  and  nothing  further  will  be  needed  than  to  kill 
the  bugs  that  have  collected  in  the  post  holes.  This  measure  is  inex- 
pensive and  can  be  promptly  put  into  operation  if  the  coal  tar  is  at 
hand.  The  writer  has  been  able  in  this  way  to  effectively  protect  a 
field  of  corn  bordered  on  two  sides  by  a  wheat  field  literally  overrun 
with  chinch  bugs  at  harvest  and  during  a  time  when  light  showers 
were  occurring,  frequently  several  times  each  day. 


THE    RIDGE    AND   COAL-TAR   METHOD. 


Differing  quite  materially  from  the  preceding  are  the  various  com- 
binations of  coal  tar  and  ridges  of  earth,  smoothed  and  packed  along 
the  apex,  or,  instead  of  the  ridge  of  earth,  6-inch  boards,  such  as  are 
ordinarily  used  for  fencing,  placed  on  edge  and  the  upper  edge  coated 

[CIr.  113] 


frith  tar.  Forbes  has  reported  excellent  results  from  the  application 
of  a  line  of  coal  tar  put  directlj  upon  the  bare  ground  where  the  surf  ace 
has  been  rendered  compact  l>\  a  recenl  fall  of  rain.  Even  in  this 
series  of  protective  measures  kerosene  can  be  used  t"  great  ad\  ante 
In  the  experiment  recorded  bj  Professor  Forbes  the  coal  tar  was  put 
upon  the  ground  between  a  wheat  field  and  a  cornfield  from  an  ordi- 
nate garden  sprinkling  pot  from  which  the  Bprinkler  had  been  re- 
moved and  the  orifice  of  the  spout  reduced  in  size  with  a  plug  of  wood 
until  the  tar  came  out  in  a  Btream  about  the  size  of  the  little  finger  and 
made  a  line  on  the  surface  of  the  ground  about  three-fourths  of  an 
inch  in  width.  Post  holes  wen-  sunk  along  the  line  from  in  to  20  feet 
apart  <»n  the  side  next  bo  the  wheat  field,  thus  practically  completing 
the  barrier,  and  the  chinch  I>ult^.  being  unable  to  cross  the  line  <>f  tar, 
accumulated  in  the  post  holes  in  \  ast  numbers,  where  they  were 
killed,  and  those  bugs  thai  had  already  entered  the  cornfield  before  the 
barrier  was  constructed  were  prevented  from  spreading  farther  l>\ 
tar  lines  between  the  rows  of  corn,  the  infested  corn  itself  being 
cleared  of  bugs  by  the  application  of  kerosene  emulsion.  The  same 
writer  Btates"  that  several  farmers  in  Vermilion  County,  III.,  pre- 
pared for  the  coal-tar  line  by  bitching  B  team  bo  a  heavy  plank  and 
running  thi-,  weighted  down  with  three  or  four  men,  over  the  ground 
once  or  twice  until  a  smooth,  hard  surface  had  thus  been  made  to  re- 
ceive tlie  tar.  If  the  barrier  was  to  be  made  in  sod,  a  furrow  was 
plowed  and  the  bottom  <>f  this  made  smooth  by  dragging  the  plank 
along  the  bottom.  In  both  cases  post  holes  were  sunk  along  the  tar 
lines,  and  in  these  were  placed  can-  or  jars  into  which  the  bugs  fell  in 
myriads  and  were  destroyed. 

On  one  farm  of  250  acres  a  coal-tar  line  !•()  rods  in  length  was  r<  - 
Dewed  once  each  day  and  killed  about  S  gallons  of  chinch  bugs.  In 
the  case  of  another  farmer  there  were  300  rods  of  tar  lines  with  post 
boles,  cans,  etc.,  which  resulted  in  destroying  about  L0  bushels  of 
chinch  bugs.  A  6-gallon  jarful  was  destroyed  in  less  than  half  a 
day  at  one  point  on  the  line.  In  this  last  instance  the  lines  of  tar 
Were  renewed  three  times  a  day,  but  even  then  less  than  a  hand  of 
tar  was  used.  Still  another  farmer,  with  120  rods  of  tar  line,  used 
about  a  third  of  a  barrel  of  tar  and  did  not  lose  a  lull  of  corn:  he 
caught  chinch  bugs  by  the  bushel.  In  some  of  the  cases  cited  the 
tar  line  was  run  in  a  zigzag  course,  the  post  holes  being  situated  at 
the  angles,  and  in  others  leader  tar  lines  were  run  obliquely  to  the 
main  tar  line,  one  end  terminating  at  the  traphole,  hut  both  of  tb 
plans  were  afterwards  regarded  as  unnecessary,  a  single  straight  line 
being  entirely  sufficient  and  Ic^s  expensive.  The  numerous 
where  these  methods  were  put  into  execution  with  entire  success  and 


"Twentieth  Report  State  Entomologist  of  Illin  i-.p.  39,  1898. 
[Or.  113] 


22 

at  small  expense  afford  the  best  possible  proof  of  their  practical  utility. 
If  ii  farmer  is  situated  near  town,  where  refuse  tin  eans  are  dumped 
iu  any  locality  where  they  ran  he  got  out  of  the  way,  be  can  select 
the  larger  of  these,  set  them  in  the  post  holes  and  partly  fill  them 
with  kerosene  and  water.  The  water,  being  heavier  than  the  kero- 
sene, will  sink  to  the  bottom,  leaving  a  stratum  of  kerosene  on  the 
surface.  The  chinch  bugs  falling  into  this  will  be  forced  down  by  the 
weight  of  those  coming  after,  and  thus  all  will  be  passed  through  the 
kerosene  into  the  water  below.  This  will  obviate  the  necessity  of  fre- 
quently emptying  the  cans  or  treating  their  contents.  It  may  also 
he  stated  that  where  the  post  holes  are  quite  deep  and  enlarged  at 
the  bottom  the  hugs  falling  into  them  will  perish  without  further 
attention. 

OTHER    BARRIER    METHODS. 

The  late  Professor  Snow,  working  in  Kansas,  followed  a  somewhat 
different  method,  and  one  that,  under  certain  conditions,  might  be 
found  superior  to  that  used  b}r  Professor  Forbes,  or  the  furrow  and 
kerosene  method  applied  by  the  writer  in  Ohio.  This  modification 
consists  in  throwing  up  a  double  furrow,  known  among  farmers  as 
"back  furrowing,''  and  thus  forming  a  ridge,  the  top  of  which  is 
smoothed  and  packed  with  a  drag  having  a  concave  bottom  of  the 
form  of  the  ridge  to  be  made.  If  the  bottom  of  this  drag  is  covered 
with  zinc,  it  will  be  found  to  keep  bright  and  polished,  and  by  this 
means  make  a  smoother  ridge.  Along  the  top  of  this  ridge  is  run  a 
train  of  coal  tar  as  it  came  from  the  gas  works,  or  crude  petroleum  as 
taken  from  the  oil  wells.  The  former  is  more  easily  obtained,  except 
in  certain  localities,  and  will  probably  be  found  the  more  practical, 
as  it  stands  on  the  surface  better  and  is  not  so  readily  washed  away 
by  rains.  Both  of  these  substances  are,  however,  offensive  to  the 
hugs,  and  the}'  will  seldom  attempt  to  cross  them  or  even  come  close 
enough  to  touch  them,  but  on  approaching  will  turn  and  run  along 
the  ridge  in  the  evident  hope  of  finding  a  gap  through  which  they  can 
pass.  Post  holes  were  dug  on  the  outside  of  the  line,  but  close  up  to 
it,  so  that  the  bugs  in  passing  along  beside  the  tar  line  would  crowd 
each  other  into  them.  Professor  Snow  suggested  that  it  will  be  better 
to  construct  this  barrier  several  wreeks  prior  to  the  time  when  it  A\i!l 
be  needed,  as  then  the  tar  line  has  but  to  be  run  along  the  ridge,  and 
the  post  holes  dug,  when  the  whole  system  is  complete,  and  the 
chinch  bugs  can  be  thus  shut  out  from  the  first.0 

With  these  barriers  of  either  ridge  or  furrow  and  the  use  of  coal 
tar  or  crude  petroleum,  supplemented  by  kerosene  emulsion,  a  very 
Large  percentage  of  the  injury  from  chinch  bugs  may  he  obviated, 

a  Fifth  Annual  Repent  of  t  lie  Director  of  the  Experimental  Suit  ion  of  the  University 
of  Kansas,  for  the  year  1895  (1896),  pp.  45-17. 
[Cir.  L13] 


ami,  in  fact,  with  a  reasonable  degren  <>f  watchfulness  and  prompt 
action,  all  injury  from  migrating  hordps  ma\  be  prevented.     The 

of  tarred  boards  Bel  ou  edge  or  slightly  reclining  might,  und<  r  - 

circumstances,  take  the  place  of  tin*  ridge  or  furrow,  bul  these  cases 
will  l»'  exct  | > t i < » 1 1 : » ! .  and  i lie  use  of  kerosene  emulsion  will  probably 
be  found  equally   practicable  here,  as  also  will  the  posl  holes  for  col 
lecting  t  he  chinch  bugs.     This  method  is  merely  cited  in  order  to  call 
attention  to  its  possible  use  where  the  others  are  round  impracticable. 

imi     D81     "i     FURROW fl    WITHOin    PETROLEUM  OB  COAJ     PAR. 

'The  plowing  of  furrows  has  been  in  vogue  since  the  first  wril 
of  l.c  Baron  and  the  second  report  of  Fitch,  and  maj  be  utilized  in 
other  ways  than  those  previously  mentioned.  V  heavj  log  dragged 
back  and  forth  in  this  furrow  will  pulverize  the  9oil  in  dry  weather, 
and  Doctor  Forbes  has  recorded  the  fact  that  where  this  furrow  has 
a  temperat ure  of  110°  to  l  lt'>°  F.  ii  is  fatal  to  the  young  bugs  that 
fall  into  the  furrow,  even  if  they  arc  not  killed  by  the  log.  As  120° 
is  not  uncommon  in  an  exposed  furrow  on  a  hot  summer  day.  it  will 
be  observed  that  there  may  be  cases  where  this  method  will  be  found 
very  serviceable,  and  especially  is  this  likelj  to  prove  true  in  a  sandy 
soil  with  a  sou! hern  exposure.  In  sections  of  the  country  where  irri- 
gation is  practiced,  these  furrows  may  be  flooded  and  in  this  w,-.\  ren- 
dered still  more  effective  without  the  expenditure  of  cither  time  or 
money  to  keep  them  in  constant  repair.  Riley  lorn:  ago  laid  consid- 
erable stress  on  this  measure,  believing  it  of  much  value,  especially 
in  the  arid  regions  of  the  far  West.  The  same  writer  advised  the 
flooding  of  infested  Gelds,  wherever  it  could  be  done,  for  a  da}  or  so 
occasionally  during  the  month  of  May.  It  is  hardly  probable,  how- 
ever, that  this  will  often  l>c  found  feasible  except  in  rice  Gelds,  where 
it  is  somet  imes  pract  iced. 

BSSm     POH    PREVENTING    CHINCH     BUGS    PROM    BECOMING    ESTABLISHED  IN     FIELDS 

111.  \  r    LND  QBA8S. 

In  the  foregoing  it  will  be  observed  that  prevention  "i  migration 
has  been  the  chic!  cud  in  \  iew  .  eith  >r  b\  destroy  ing  the  chinch  l>m_'-  in 
their  hibernating  quarters,  and  thus  preventing  the  spring  migrat  ion 
to  the  breeding  place-,  or  by  \  arious  traps  and  obstructions  to  prevent 
them  from  migrating  from  such  place-  to  others  not  already  infested. 
Tin'  great  problem  remaining  to  be  solved  is  to  prevent  their  breeding 
in  wheat  fields  at  all.  As  has  been  shown,  it  is  absolutely  impos- 
sible, with  our  present  inability  to  forecast  the  weather  months  in 
advance,  to  be  able  to  foretell  whether  or  not  an  outbreak  of  chinch 
bugs  is  likely  to  take  place.  There  may  be  an  abundance  of  bugs  in 
the  fall  enough  to  cause  an  outbreak  over  a  wide  section  of  count  ry 
and  these  may  overwinter  in  sullicient  numliei  ise  some  injury 

[Or.  118] 


24 

in  spring,  yet  a  few  timely,  drenching  rains  will  outbalance  all  of  these 
factors,  and  our  wisest  prognostications  fail  of  proving  true.  It  is 
this  very  factor  of  uncertainty  that  renders  unlikely  the  successful 
carrying  out,  over  any  large  area  of  country,  of  any  protective  meas- 
ures, where,  as  in  this  case,  the  benefit  to  be  derived  will  only  lie  real- 
ized nearly  a  year  afterwards,  if  at  all.  The  average  farmer,  when 
smarting  under  a  heavy  loss,  will  often  take  such  long-range  precau- 
tions as  to  sow  belts  of  flax,  hemp,  clover,  or  buckwheat  around  his 
wheat  fields  once;  hut  if  the  chinch  bugs  do  not  appear,  and  he  sees 
the  useless  investment  of  time,  labor,  and  seed,  he  will  be  likely  to 
conclude  next  year  to  take  the  risk  and  do  nothing.  For  the  present, 
then,  we  have  no  method  whereby  we  can  prevent  the  chinch  hugs 
from  taking  up  their  abode  in  wheat  fields  or  timothy  meadows  and 
raising  their  enormous  families  there,  except  to  destroy  the  adults  in 
their  winter  quarters. 

The  writer  once  tried  to  destroy  the  young  in  a  wheat  field  by 
spraying  with  kerosene  emulsion  the  small  areas  of  whitening  grain 
that  indicated  where  the  pests  were  massed  in  greatest  abundance. 
The  result  was  unsatisfactory,  and  it  is  very  doubtful  if  it  is  possible 
to  apply  this  measure  with  any  degree  of  success,  and  we  are  forced 
to  the  conclusion  that,  for  the  present  at  least,  we  shall  be  obliged 
to  rely  upon  the  measures  previously  given.  It  therefore  becomes 
of  the  utmost  importance  to  clean  up  the  roadsides,  and  the  ground 
along  fences  and  patches  of  woodland,  as  well  as  any  other  places 
likely  to  afford  protection  for  the  hibernating  chinch  hugs.  There 
are,  of  course,  obstacles  in  the  way  of  carrying  out  this  plan  generally 
over  any  large  area  of  country,  and  especially  in  sections  where  the 
rail  fence  predominates.  But  as  the  country  gets  older  it  will  be 
found  that  it  is  not  chinch  bugs  alone  that  seek  these  places  in  which 
to  pass  the  winter,  but  myriads  of  the  other  insect  foes  of  the  farmer 
as  well,  and  that  careful  attention  to  the  condition  of  roadsides, 
lanes,  hedgerows,  and  waste  places  about  the  farms,  during  the 
season  when  insects  seek  out  these  places  wherein  to  pass  the  winter, 
will  pay  well  for  the  time  expended  in  that  direction.  It  may  come 
about  that  some  phase  of  the  street-cleaning  reform  may  invade 
the  country,  and  it  is  certain  that  if  such  were  to  occur  it  would, 
in  time,  save  the  country  enough  to  go  far  toward  reducing  the 
expense  of  securing  good  roads.  In  fact,  the  term  "good  roads" 
ought  to  include  the  proper  care  of  the  roadsides,  as  well  as  the 
grading  and  macadamizing  of  the  roadbeds  themselves. 

There  are  at  present  so-called  "weed  laws-'  in  many  States,  and, 
though  more  or  less  of  a  dead  letter  in  most  cases,  these  laws  are 
steps  in  the  proper  direction.  The  time  when  insect  pests  will  be 
looked  upon  in  the  eye  of  the  law  as  so  many  public  nuisances,  and 

[CIr.  113] 


the  harboring  of  them  a  corresponding  crime,  ma}  be  a  long  waj  off, 
bul  as  it  gradually  draws  nearer  we  Bhall  come  to  learn  thai  aftei 
nil  it  is  the  rational  \iru  to  take  and  will  go  far  toward  solving  nol 
onlj  the  chinch-bug  problem  I >■  1 1  man}  others  of  a  similar  nature 
So  far  as  the  chinch  I>ul;  i^  concerned,  when  we  burn  over  the  waste 
lands  and  accumulated  rubbish  about  our  farms  in  autumn  or 
winter,  we  are  Bimplj  applying  the  Bame  check  thai  the  dusk} 
Bavage  did  when  he  lighted  the  prairie  fires,  though  unwittingly  and 
for  an  entirely  differenl  purpose.  In  the  timoth}  meadows  of  the 
northeastern  portion  of  the  country,  where,  for  lack  of  wings  fitting 
it  for  locomotion,  the  chinch  bug  does  not  bo  largely  migrate  to  the 
waste  lands  in  autumn,  the  problem  is  somewhat  different,  and  it 
will  require  Borne  careful  experiments  to  determine  the  exact  effects 
both  on  the  hibernating  chinch  bugs  and  on  the  grass  roots  of 
burning  over  the  meadow  lands  in  winter.  There  can  he  little 
doubt,  however,  thai  a  rapid  rotation  of  crops,  so  as  nol  to  allow 
the  short- winged  form  t  *  >  become  thoroughly  established  in  a  meadow, 
and  tin*  burning  over  of  waste  places,  thus  destroying  such  rubbish 
and  dt'dnis  as  will  serve  t»>  offer  hibernating  places  for  the  long-winged 
form,  will  go  far  toward  settling  the  chinch-bug  problem  in  grass 
lands. 

As  previously  stated,  the  chief  drawback  in  putting  preventive 
measures  in  force  is  the  difficulty  of  foretelling  an  invasion.  In 
northeastern  Ohio  in  1897  hundreds  of  acres  of  timothy  meadow 
were  destroyed  after  the  hay  crop  had  been  removed,  bul  so  late 

that  the  farmers  did  not  BUSped  the  true  condition  of  their  meadows 
until  the  sprint:  of  1898,  when  the  young  grass  failed  to  put  forth 
and  an  examination  revealed  the  fact  that  the  root-,  had  Keen  killed, 
the  abundance  of  chinch  bugs  pointing  unerringly  to  the  cause  of  the 

trouble,  though  in  many  cases  a  heavy  crop  of  hay  had  Keen  removed 
the  previous  year  where  now  the  ground  was  entirely  bare.  While 
in  the  case  just  cited  a  previous  knowledge  of  the  presence  of  chinch 
l>ii<:s  in  these  meadows  mighl  not  have  enabled  the  owners  to  have 
saved  them  in  the  fall  of  1897,  yet  the  fall  plowing  of  the  land,  possibly 

(■arly  enough  to  have  sown  the  ground  to  fall  wheat,  would  have 
hit  tied  the  majority  of  t  he  bugs  BO  deeply  in  t  he  soil  as  to  have  killed 

vast  numbers  of  them  and  thus  prevented  their  migrating  to  other 

lands   in    the  Spring   of    1898.      A    rotation   of  crops   that    would    have 

included  grass  for  not  to  exceed  two  successive  years,  followed  by 
wheat,  would  have  amounted  to  precisely  the  same  remedial  measure 
as  the  one  suggested. 
A  ease  in  northeastern  Ohio  has  come  to  t he  writer's  notice  w here 

an    infested    timothy    meadow    was    plowed    late    in    the    fall    of    Iso;. 
Late  in  April  of  L898  this  ground  was  cultivated,  rolled,  and  harrowed 
[Cir.  US] 


26 

several  times  and  most  carefully  and  completely  prepared  for  corn, 
which  was  planted,  hut  with  the  result  that  a  portion  of  the  field  was 
attacked  and  destroyed  by  chinch  bugs,  largely  of  the  short-winged 
form.  An  examination  about  June  10  revealed  the  bugs  in  consider- 
able numbers  about  the  plants  still  remaining,  but  scattered  over  the 
field  were  more  or  less  numerous  clumps  of  timothy,  in  some  ca 
apparently  killed  by  the  chinch  bugs,  while  in  others  the  bugs  were 
literally  swarming  about  the  dying  but  still  green  clumps  of  gi 
thus  showing  that  they  had  either  not  been  buried  by  the  plowing  and 
cultivation  of  the  ground  or  else  the  grass  had  not  been  thoroughly 
covered,  and  thus  ladders  had  been  left  whereby  the  bugs  were  enabled 
to  climb  to  the  surface. 

SUMMARY  OF  REMEDIAL  AND  PREVENTIVE  MEASURES. 

In  summing  up  the  matter  of  remedial  and  preventive  measures  for 
the  control  of  the  chinch  bug,  it  may  be  stated  that  the  insects  can  be 
destroyed  in  their  places  of  hibernation  by  the  use  of  fire.  They  can, 
under  favorable  meteorological  conditions,  be  destroyed  in  the  fields. 
if  present  in  sufficient  abundance  during  the  breeding  season,  by  the 
use  of  the  fungus  Sporotrichum  globuliferum,  if  promptly  and  carefully 
applied.  They  can  be  destroyed  while  in  the  act  of  migrating  from 
one  field  to  another  by  tarred  barriers  or  deep  furrows  supplemented 
by  post  holes  and  by  burying  them  under  the  surface  of  the  ground 
with  the  plow  and  harrow,  or  the  latter  method  may  be  applied  after 
the  bugs  have  been  massed  upon  plats  of  some  kind  of  vegetation  for 
which  the  bugs  are  known  to  have  a  special  fondness,  these  decoy 
plats  being  so  arranged  as  either  to  attract  the  females  and  induce 
them  to  oviposit  therein  or  to  intercept  an  invasion  from  wheat  fields 
into  cornfields.  When  these  decoys  have  been  turned  under  with  a 
plow  and  the  surface  immediately  smoothed  and  packed  by  harrow 
and  roller  the  bugs  will  be  destroyed,  while  in  the  cornfields  they 
can  be  destroyed  on  the  plants  by  the  application  of  kerosene  emulsion. 
Without  vigilance  and  prompt  action,  however,  only  indifferent  results 
are  to  be  expected  from  any  of  these  measures. 

PROSPECTS   OF    A    FUTURE   OUTBREAK. 

The  past  history  of  the  chinch  bug  in  America  indicates  a  series  of 
years  of  the  insects'  abundance  and  destructiveness,  followed  by  peri- 
ods of  comparative  immunity  from  its  attacks.  For  a  number  of 
years  there  have  been  no  serious  ravages  and,  in  fact,  until  within  the 
past  two  years  the  pest  has  hardly  been  noticed  by  farmers;  but 
within  the  last  year  (1908)  there  have  come  a  number  of  complaints 
of  serious  injury,  and,  while  these  outbreaks  have  so  far  been  of  a 
rather  localized  character,  they  seem  nevertheless  to  betoken  the 

[Clr.  113] 


27 

drawing  t"  an  <'n<l  of  the  period  of  immunity  and  the  beginning  "f  a 
■x'lii'^  of  years  of  abundance  and  destruction.  These  somewhat  |><>i- 
tentous  reports  have  come  from  the  farmers  of  Ohio,  [ndiana,  1 1 !  i  n<  >i- . 
Kansas,  and  Texas.  Strangely  enough,  the  citj  man  bas  n- >i  been 
allowed  t"  resl  unmolested  and  reports  of  serious  ravages  l>\  chinch 
bugs  on  lawns  have  come  from  the  widely  separated  points,  Brooklyn, 
V  ^  ..  and  Palm  Beach,  Fla.  li  is  because  of  these  ominous  reports 
th.ii  tlu-~  publication  bas  been  prepared  ;it  this  time  with  the  li<>|><' 
not  only  of  sounding  a  note  of  warning,  1  >u t  also,  if  possible,  of  impres- 
sing upon  the  farmer  the  uecessitj  of  watchfulness  and  the  prompt 
application  of  preventive  measures  where  the  insect  is  found  t"  occur 
in  any  considerable  numbers.  The  Bureau  of  Entomology  has  the 
present  summer  (1909)  been  carrying  out  much  experimental  and 
demonstrative  work  in  the  West,  notably  in  Kansas. 
Approved : 
•i  \mi  s  Wilson, 

N<  (Vi  tan/  of  Agrit  ultun  . 

\\  isHiNOTON,  D.  C,  September  in,  19 

[CIr.  1 13] 

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